NeWiP – New ways of information-led production
Problem definition and objectives
In order to remain competitive in international markets in the future, German companies strive for a high level of customer orientation. This means that they must react more flexibly and quickly to changes in the market situation and to new technological developments. SMEs in particular find it difficult to convert the relevant processes and introduce the necessary production and information technologies despite the great economic potential. To increase the application and integration of Industry 4.0 technologies in SMEs, more self-responsibility of the users in the development and implementation of new Industry 4.0 technologies is needed.
The project goal of NeWiP is the integration of Industry 4.0 technologies into existing value chains of SMEs. The collection and provision of information and the networking of companies and production areas should improve the transparency of the prevailing processes and procedures. This will enhance the responsiveness and efficiency of the company and production.
Procedure
Four application scenarios are considered in the project. These are processed and implemented at the companies Imperial, Woll Maschinenbau, XENON and ZF. Thus, different companies and production areas and their networking can be considered and solutions can be developed. The focus of the approach lies on the human being, the technology and the organization in the company. Based on a detailed analysis of the existing procedures and processes, weak points and media breaks are revealed. From the state analysis, the requirements are derived and solution concepts are developed, which are then implemented and evaluated by the users in the company. In the various phases of the project, the employees are confronted with the ideas, concepts and finally solutions, so that employee feedback can always be incorporated into the solutions.
Current project status and results
The project has now been successfully completed. In four different application scenarios at the companies Miele, Woll Maschinenbau, XENON Automatisierungstechnik and ZF Friedrichshafen, new solutions for networking and assistance were developed. The solutions are also presented in the P4P in the form of function demonstrators that illustrate the functional principles of the solutions implemented in the application scenarios.
